Mac and Windows users, don’t click on pictures—or type out text that has been distorted—before you read this. Some important safety advice about how the scam works:
The CAPTCHA scam shows a fake CAPTCHA pop-up on a malicious website that looks like the real website for a legitimate company, such as Amazon.com or Facebook.com. But instead of asking you to enter the distorted text you see on screen or solve a simple image puzzle, the fake CAPTCHA tells you to press certain keys on your keyboard, ostensibly to help verify that you are human or to verify your account.
These keystrokes are known as keyboard shortcuts, and by entering them, you copy and paste code that the fake CAPTCHA has added to your clipboard, allowing scammers to automatically download and install malicious software on your phone or laptop.
If you’re on a Windows machine, you may be asked to press Windows+R, then Ctrl+V, on your keyboard. On a Mac, you may be asked to press Command-Space, type in “Terminal,” and then press Command+V. Windows+R opens Windows’ Run launcher. t the CAPTCHA is a scam.
Read more at Fast Company. You can also keep current on new scams and get great free advice from Tom O’Malley on LinkedIn.
